Enhanced band earplug

ABSTRACT

A noise blocking band earplug has a band (12) with outer portions (44, 46) that are bent to prevent the ear-engaging pods (20, 22) from touching the ground, whether placed right-side-up or upside-down on the ground. When the middle region (32) of the band rests on a horizontal surface (64), a band inner end part (70) extends at an upward incline (C) with its outer end forming a second bend (80) so the outer end part (72) extends at a downward incline (D), with the second bend preventing the pods from touching the ground when the earplug is laid upside-down. At the second bend (80), the largely vertical height (J) of the band is increased and its outer surface (102) is made convex to provide pods for more readily pressing the pods against the outside of the ear canals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

My earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,691 entitled "SOILING RESISTANT BANDEDEARPLUG" describes a band earplug that avoids soiling of the earplugdevices, or pods that actually press against the outside of a person'sear canals. The patent describes the band outer portions as angled toextend at an upward-outward incline when the middle portion of the bandrests on a horizontal surface. If a worker places the band right-side-upeven on a dirty surface, the band holds the pods away from the surfaceso they will not be soiled. Such soiling of the pads could lead todirtying the worker's ears, or require a new clean band earplug.

Workers often lay a band earplug on a dirty surface without taking careto make sure that the band is laid right-side-up to protect the podsfrom dirt. It would be desirable if a band earplug were constructed toavoid soiling of the pods, no matter what orientation the band earplugwas laid onto a dirty surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a bandearplug is provided, which avoids soiling when laid right-side-up orupside-down on a largely horizontal dirty surface. The band earplugincludes a band of largely U-shape with a middle region and withopposite end portions, and with pods mounted on each band outer end.Each outer end portion has parts that are angled to extend at upward anddownward inclines from the horizontal when the middle portion extendshorizontally. As a result, when the band earplug is laid right-side-upor upside-down on a horizontal surface, the ends of the inclinedportions will prevent the pods from touching the surface.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity inthe appended claims. The invention will be best understood from thefollowing description when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a band earplug of the present invention,shown how it is worn by a wearer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the band earplug of FIG. 1, when the middleportion lies in a horizontal plane.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the band earplug, shown lyingright-side-up on a horizontal surface.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3, but with the band earplugoriented upside-down while lying on the horizontal surface.

FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of the earplug of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6--6 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7--7 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a view taken on line 8--8 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a view taken on line 9--9 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 illustrates a band earplug 10 which includes a resilient band 12designed to extend about halfway around the head of a person P, andwhich has opposite outer ends 14, 16. A pair of pods 20, 22 are eachattached to a different one of the band outer ends. The resilient band12 urges the pods towards the person's ears, so each pod presses againstthe entrance to a person's ear canal to form a seal therewith whichminimizes the passage of noise to the person's inner ear.

Band earplugs of this general type are well known, and are commonly usedin work places such as factories, where they are reused many timesbefore disposal. Workers commonly remove the earplugs for extendedperiods such as during coffee and lunch breaks, when the band earplugsmust be stored. Such storage is commonly achieved by merely laying theband earplug on an easily available surface such as an unused region ofa table, which may be referred to as a ground surface. Since surfaces inmanufacturing plants often become dirty from oil, bits of metal thathave been ground or machined from work pieces, and other soilingmaterial, the pods often become soiled. If a workman places a soiled podagainst one of his ears, the soiling material may harm the worker, or atleast feel uncomfortable. An alternative is for the worker to requestanother banded earplug, which results in additional expense.

In my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,691, I describe a band earplug whichcan be laid on a surface but which holds the pod away from the surfaceto avoid soiling it. However, that band earplug requires that the bandbe laid in a right-side-up orientation on the surface. Workers often donot pay attention as to which side is down, and may lay the band earplugupside-down, causing the pod to become soiled. Also, band earplugssometimes fall from the worker onto a bench, and initially reach thebench surface in an uncontrolled orientation.

In accordance with the present invention, the band earplug 10 isconstructed so that when laid in almost any orientation on a largelyflat and horizontal surface, as in the right-side-up orientation of FIG.3 and the upside-down orientation of FIG. 4, the pods such as 22 willnot touch that surface and become soiled. Also, if the band earplug isplaced so it leans against an object while its outer end 14, 16 liesagainst a soiled surface, or the band earplug drops so its outer end 14,16 encounters a soiled surface, the pods generally will not be soiled.

The band 12 of FIG. 2 has a middle region 32 with a middle 34 andopposite middle portions 40, 42 on opposite sides of the middle. Theearplug also has a pair of opposite end portions 44, 46 with outerpod-holding ends 14, 16 at the outer ends of the band. Each end portion44, 46 merges with a middle portion at a mid-end, or far location 50which is the outermost part (in direction O) of the corresponding middleportion. The band is substantially symmetrical about an imaginaryhorizontal centerline 60 that passes through the middle 34 and halfwaybetween the outer ends 14, 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the band has ahorizontal center plane 62 that extends through the horizontal centerline 60 and that extends substantially horizontal (within 10° andpreferably 5° of horizontal) when the earplug lies in its right-side-upposition shown in FIG. 3 and lies on a horizontal surface 64.

Each of the outer end portions such as 46 has inner and outer end parts70, 72 that are positioned with respect to the inward and outward arrowsI, O. The inner end part 70 is closest to the middle portion 42 and isjoined to a far location 50 at the inner end 74 of the inner end part70. The locations 50, 74 are joined near a first bend 76 whose lowersurface is convex and whose upper surface is concave. The bend 76results in most 70A of the inner end part 70 extending at anupward-outward incline at an angle C of about 30°. The inner and outerend parts 70, 72 are joined at a second bend 80 of about 70° whose uppersurface is convex and whose lower surface is concave in FIG. 3. Most 72Aof the outer end part 72 extends at a downward-outward incline at anaverage angle D of about 30° as seen in the side view at FIG. 3. Theouter end such as 16, shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, includes an outer shaftsection 82 with a post 84 at its end, which is fixed to thecorresponding pod 20, 22. Each pod includes a cylindrical section 90with a hole that receives the post, and a flange section 92 thatactually engages the wearer's ear. Both are preferably of foam plastic.

As shown in FIG. 3, the middle region 32 extends along most of thelength of the band and generally has the greatest weight, so the bandearplug rests with the band middle region 32 lying almost "flat" againstthe horizontal surface. The first bend 76 results in the outer endportion 46 extending generally at an upward-outward incline to keep thepod 22 raised above the horizontal surface 64. In the event that theband is laid upside-down on the horizontal surface 64, as shown in FIG.4, the second bend 80 prevents the pod 22 from touching the surface. Thesecond bend 80 results in the outer part 72 extending at anupward-outward incline B in the upside-down position of the band earplugso the pod 22 is again held above the surface 64 and is not soiled evenwhen the earplug is laid upside-down on a horizontal surface.

FIG. 2 shows that the outer shaft sections 82 extend at angles A to thelateral direction L so the shaft sections 82 extend inwardly (I) andtowards the opposite side of the earplug, to position the pods 20, 22 soeven if the band is laid on a surface so the band outer ends 14, 16 aresupported on the surface, the pads 22 will not touch that surface.

The outer end portion 46 of the band has a region 100 of increasedlargely vertical height at the bend 80. As shown in FIG. 7, each region100 has largely flattened and slightly convex laterally distal surface102 and a convex laterally proximal surface 104. The surface 102 isangled about 45° from the horizontal, which is accomplished by"twisting" the band along each end portion. The terms distal andproximal are relative to a vertical center plane 106 that extendsthrough the middle of the band. The distal surfaces 102 provide padswhere the wearer's fingers can rest to press the pods against theoutsides of his ear canals. It is noted that applicant prefers to formthe pod flange sections 92 of slow recovery foam material. While theband presses the pods towards each other with a force of about sevenounces, it requires a few more ounces to seat the pods against theoutside of the ear canal so they seal well thereat. The widefinger-pressed pad surfaces 102 enhance this.

For the band earplug illustrated, FIG. 8 shows that at the middle 34 theband has a height E of 9.3 mm and a width F of 3.8 mm. At the farlocations 50, FIG. 9 shows that the height G is 7.3 mm and the width Fis still about 3.8 mm. The average height along the middle region isabout 8.3 mm. FIG. 7 shows that at the bend 80, the band has a largely(but inclined) height J of 10.5 mm and a width K of 3.4 mm. FIG. 6 showsthat along the shaft 82 of FIG. 2, the shaft is largely circular, with adiameter of about 9.8 mm.

Thus, the invention provides a band earplug that resists soiling of thepods when the band is laid on a horizontal surface, either right-side-upor upside-down. This is accomplished by providing two bends in the outerportions of the band to form two inclined end parts, with the inner endpart extending at an incline in one direction and the outer end partextending at an incline in the opposite direction, to provide bendswhere the band holds the pods above the ground surface. At the outermostone of the two bends, the band has an increased largely vertical heightwhich is preferably flat or concave, to serve as pressing surfaces orpads where a person can press against the earplugs to seat them againstthe outer surfaces of his ear canals.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variationsmay readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it isintended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications andequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A band earplug apparatus, comprising:a band (12)constructed to extend about halfway around a person's head, said bandhaving a middle region (32) with a middle (34) and with oppositemid-ends forming far points (50), and said band having opposite endportions (44, 46) with outer pod-holding ends (14, 16) that can lieopposite the ears of the person and inner ends (74) that merge with saidfar points; a pair of pods (20, 22) each mounted on one of said bandouter pod-holding ends and constructed to seal against the outside ofthe person's ear canal, with said band urging its outer pod-holding endstogether to urge said pods against the outside of the person's earcanals; said band being substantially symmetrical about an imaginarysubstantially horizontal centerline (60) that passes through said middleand halfway between said outer ends, and said band having asubstantially horizontal centerplane (62) that extends through saidmiddle and said far points; each of said end portions having inner andouter end parts (70, 72) lying respectively closest and furthest fromsaid middle region, with each of said inner end parts (70) joined to oneof said middle portion far points at a first downwardly-convex bend (76)that results, when said centerplane is horizontal and said band is in aright-side-up orientation, in said inner part extending at anupward-outward incline (C) to said centerplane as seen in a horizontalside view that is perpendicular to said centerline, and with each outerend part joined to the corresponding inner end part at a secondupwardly-convex bend (80) that results in said outer end part (72)extending at a downward-outward incline (D) to said centerplane, to holdsaid pods away from a horizontal surface on which it is laid in eithersaid right-side-up orientation or an upside-down orientation.
 2. Theapparatus described in claim 1 wherein:said band has a largelyhorizontal thickness (F) and a largely vertical height (G) along saidmiddle portion at said far end, with said height being greater than saidthickness; at said second upwardly-convex bend (80), each of said bandouter end portions (44, 46) has an increased height (J) which is greaterthan the height at said far points.
 3. The apparatus described in claim2 wherein:at each of said upwardly-convex bends (80) said band has anoutside surface (102) which is twisted from an orientation parallel tothe band at the corresponding far location, so each outside surfacefaces at a downward incline when said centerplane is horizontal.
 4. Theapparatus described in claim 3 wherein:each of said outside surfaces isconcave along most of its height.
 5. The apparatus described in claim 1wherein:each of said pods includes a wide ear-engaging part (92) and amount part (90); each of said outer pod-holding ends comprises an outershaft section (82) with a post (84) that holds one of said pod mountparts, with said outer shaft section extending primarily horizontallyand toward the other shaft section, but at an inward angle (A) towardsaid middle of said band middle region which is sufficient to space saidear-engaging part a plurality of millimeters inward of the outermostpart of said outer shaft section.
 6. A noise blocking band earplugcomprising:a band (12) extending in largely a U-shape, with a middleregion (32) and with largely parallel opposite end portions (44, 46); apair of pods (20, 22) each mounted on one of said outer end portions andconstructed to seal against the outside of a person's ear canal, withsaid band urging said pods toward each other; said opposite end portionshave inner and outer end parts (70, 72) that are angled to extend, whensaid middle region extends horizontally, so one of said end partsextends at an upward-outer incline (C) and the other one of said endparts extends at a downward-outer incline (D), with each of saidopposite end portions having an outer shaft section (82) that supportsone of said pods, so when said band earplug is laid right-side-up orupside-down on a flat horizontal surface no part of said pods touch thehorizontal surface.
 7. The apparatus described in claim 6 wherein:saidmiddle region lies in a predetermined substantially horizontal plane(62) and has far ends (50) that merge with said end portions, saidmiddle region has a predetermined average height and said outer endportions each have press pads of a height (J) greater than said middleportion average height.
 8. The apparatus described in claim 6wherein:each of said end portions has an inner part (70A) extending atan upward-outward incline and an outer part (72A) extending at adownward-outward incline, and with said inner and outer parts joined atan upward-convex second bend (80) where the upper surface at the bend isconvex, when said band is right side-up and lies on a horizontalsurface; said outer part (72A) extends at an upward-outward incline andsaid band rests on said second bend (80) and on said middle region, whensaid band is upside-down and rests on said horizontal surface.